Raffle is GO!

Yes!  We have launched our MONSTER RAFFLE!  After 2 months of ringing around and emailing the hell out of various businesses, we have compiled some pretty awesome prizes worth almost $1300.00!

Check out the back and front of our flyer:

So the tickets are $10 each or 3 for $25, and given that there are only 500 tickets, I think it's good value. We are going to set up a wee table outside Piedmontes IGA in Fitzroy North on Saturday between 9am and 12pm (incidentally Saturday is also my birthday!)  Hopefully we sell a few there, as this will be our main way of selling them.  After all, there's only so many you can sell to friends and workmates!

We have decided to flag going to Boogie festival at Easter this year with our mates which was a really hard decision to make, because who doesn't want 4 days partying with their mates at a great festy?  But we have decided we need to get serious with our training and fundraising given we have less than 3 months to reach our $10K target!  Eeek!!

Our Wednesday night quiz nights at Fitzroy Bowls Club kick off on April 18th with the second two being May 16th and June 13th.  More deets about those will be forthcoming!

I have 'Let's Dance', my 80s dance party on at The Evelyn Hotel on the 28th of April, tickets and deets here: http://www.moshtix.com.au/event.aspx?id=54876

I have also secured Odessa Creative Space for an art auction I'm going to hold on Friday 11th May.   So I am hoping some of my talented artist friends are generous enough to donate some of their work!  Here is Odessa's website: http://odessacreativespace.com.au/

That's all for now, but put frankly we are busy busy and will be until July when we have hopefully raised enough cashola to make it to Tanzania!!  

If you would like to donate to my challenge, please do so here, every little bit counts:

http://www.gofundraise.com.au/page/helenohoward

XXX

Helen

Dandenong mission, aching legs!

So Anton and I went on the most 'long-ish' and 'serious-ish' walk we have been on in a bit on Labour Day Monday.  After a weekend of excess alcohol consumption, we decided to redeem ourselves by taking a trip out to Upper Ferntree Gully to do the 1000 steps again (and sweat out our toxins!)  Only this time, we walked up the 1000 steps, down the Lyrebird track, up the Lyrebird track and then down the Bellview Terrace track.

This took us all in all 2 hrs, which might not seem like a lot, but 1 hour of that was either steps or a steep uphill track.  Also, we knocked 30 mins off the 'recommended times' for each of these walks (which actually isn't that hard as I am sure they judge it on the pace of an octagenarian with a walking frame)  It felt a lot better going up the 1000 steps this time than it did last time, when I felt like my heart was about the explode and had to stop at least 3 times for a breather (this time I only had one stop)  To give you some idea of what I'm blabbing on about, here is a link to enlighten you somewhat:

http://www.bushwalkingblog.com.au/1000-steps-kokoda-track-return-via-lyrebird-track-dandenong-ranges-national-park-upper-ferntree-gully-victoria-2/

Here's a pic of me BEFORE intense exercise (ie no red sweaty face)  I don't have an AFTER shot for your enjoyment / ridicule because I am too vain:

The public transport mish for us is 2 hrs each way, so we were up at 8.30am and back by around 12.30pm in time to do some intense lawn mowing and weeding as a sort of warm down.

The next trip we take out here we'd like to climb Mt Dandenong which is 633m high.  Not sure how long it will take us.  We will need to do a little more investigation I think as I believe it may also involve some bus travel.

Here's a pic from the One Tree Hill picnic area where we had lunch (top of 1000 steps)  The weather was amaze BTW!

Our legs were SORE on Tuesday afternoon, and that soreness kicked back in again this morning when I did my normie 2 hour walk to work.  It was about 25 degrees and very humid so I was soaked in sweat when I got to work.  I do smell like roses all the time though so so no probs!  haha

We have finally sorted our raffle prizes with the donation of an old school barber's shop cut to complete the 'His n Hers' prize pack for 2nd prize so we will get them printed tomorrow in time for me to sell some at my stall at Fitzroy Markets on Saturday (all proceeds to my Kilimanjaro Challenge)

We are also sorting quiz nights for April, May and June so stay tuned for those deets!!

Taco Truck and Grill'd have promised me taco and burger vouchers as quiz night giveaways, so we're on a roll, and my day off on Monday will give me a chance to get some more ace prizes to lure people along.

Also, (just as a side note mind you) if you would like to donate to my challenge, please do!  Any amount from $2 to $2000 would be hugely appreciated.  Every little bit counts!  Thanks generous people!  Here's the link if you feel like throwing some coinage my way:

http://www.gofundraise.com.au/page/helenohoward

That's all for now
XXX
Helen

More donations and fundraising ideas

Fundraising update:

My lovely amazingly talented friend Claire is the owner / manager / maker of beautiful jewels at her store Madame Fancy Pants in Wellington.  She has kindly donated a stunning antique gold feather bracelet and a charm necklace of her own making for our raffle.  Thanks Claire!  Check out the link to her online store on the Wall of FAME! page.  Healesville Hotel also came through with a 2 course lunch for 2, which I am very happy about because they are listed in the Good Food Guide so their food is likely to be incredible!  And we have also been offered 2 nights weekend accommodation at Healesville Apartments which is ace because we couldn't give a weekend away in the Yarra Valley without accommodation!  Thanks Tony!  We have stayed the treetops apartment before and it was clean, modern, comfortable and private.   Here's a picture of the bedroom (the picture is tiny but if you blow it up it becomes pixelated):

So we're almost there with the raffle prizes, just waiting on a bicycle shop who promised to get back to me this week, and might try to get a barber shop cut to give away with the Buckley's beer for the 'His n Hers' second prize.  Once all prizes are sorted, they will be posted on here and the printing of the tickets and SELLING will commence.  We have over $1000 worth of prizes and will attempt to sell 500 tickets at $10 each.

Oh and the link to buy presale tickets to my mega awesome 80s dance party with Kinshasa Express, Danceteria DJs and The Real Hot Bitches at The Evelyn Hotel in April is HERE:

http://admin.moshtix.com.au/event.aspx?id=54876

I have also decided (perhaps stupidly with all I have currently going on) to put on a charity art auction with art donated from some of my talented friends.  Just need to suss a keen gallery and some beer / wine sponsorship!!  Hopefully that will bring in $2K - $3K.  It's not something I've done before but if the art is quality enough I think it will be a success.

Anton has been to a quiz night at the East Brunswick Club to do some 'research' on how to conduct one,  this so called 'research' also involved drinking beer, but perhaps that was 'research' for his beer brewing (which is going so well the first batch is due to be bottled tomorrow)  Mountain Brew ahoy!

This coming Monday is Labour Day, so we're keen to get some training in.  We're going to 'Rent-a-Bomb' and drive out to Kinglake National Park to do a 'serious' 4 hour walk which has been described as 'hard'  So I'm looking forward to a challenging walk finally!

That's all for now folks!